True Crime Stories

Larry Gene Heath I have often stated that while on the surface my obsession seems to be with true crimes, that it is the justice system and the behavior of criminals that interest me the most. Of course there are the cases in which I disagreed with a verdict from a jury but I think there are only a few that while I agree the defendant is guilty, I believe the steps taken to get that verdict, or a verdict that was sought have crossed lines that put all American's at risk. Two of the more high profile cases in which I feel this way are the Timothy Hennis and the Drew Peterson case. Hennis was convicted, and then later acquitted of the murders of a young mother and two of her children. It made waves because it seemed so similar to the Jeffrey MacDonald Case that took place in the early 1970's and they were both committed at or near Fort Bragg. Hennis was acquitted in 1989, re-joined the military and retired in 2004. In 2006 the military took him out of retirem...

I am sometimes surprised when I stumble upon a case I have never heard of before. And, I stumble across this one in a very strange way. I was going through my list of cases, looking for one to research next, and I was searching the perpetrator of another case. The perpetrator had the name Andrew Gustafson, which happens to be the name of the husband and father in this case who found his family murdered back in 1987. It did not take long to confirm they were two different people but this case seemed quite interesting on many levels. First, you have the issue of the grisliness of the crime in which has put Daniel LaPlante in prison and has currently served over thirty years. Then there is the issue of his prior crime that while there seems to be a little bit of conflicting evidence since it is said his crimes have become urban legend, but it is just creepy in and of itself no matter which version you tell. Next from a legal standpoint became the issue that the Supr...